


The Deadly Bounty Hunter

by hundredsunny



Category: One Piece
Genre: Bounty Hunters, Gen, Original Character(s), Pirates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-16 22:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7287748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hundredsunny/pseuds/hundredsunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates find themselves docking on a small island in order to restock on their food supply. However, the island that they find themselves on quickly turns into one large playing field at the hands of a devilish bounty hunter with a lot more than just simple tricks up her sleeve...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Boredom Cured! The Crew Lands on New Turf!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this mini-adventure that came from the deep depths of my brain! Hopefully to some this will feel like a typical episode of One Piece, with all the random humor that comes from our favorite pirate crew. I also hope you end up enjoying the two characters in this story that aren't Oda's: April and the charming bounty hunter! They're both OC's of mine that have been lodged in my imagination for God knows how long.  
> Once again, I hope you enjoy!

Monkey D. Luffy groaned as he had himself draped over the railing of the Thousand Sunny. Beside him, Usopp and the crew's doctor, Tony Tony Chopper, repeated their captain's action. Their arms dangled lifelessly overboard as they watched the water ripple with the Sunny's movement with just as lifeless eyes.

"So...bored..." They all whined in monotone voices.

"What's gotten into you three?" Sanji asked as he walked by them with a silver platter in his hand, planning to serve the ladies of the crew refreshing drinks.

"Nami's Log Pose hasn't picked up anything yet and we're bored!" Luffy groaned again. "Nami! Your Log Pose is broken!" He yelled.

"It's not broken, you're just impatient!" Nami yelled back. She gave Sanji a smile as he handed her the drink she requested. "Ah, thank you, Sanji- _kun_."

"Anything for you, Nami- _san_ ~!" Sanji swooned in response. Once he gave the drinks to April and Robin and received their praise, he walked back by the lifeless trio. "You idiots hungry?" He asked and puffed out a small cloud of smoke.

"Yeah, we're hungry," Chopper started. "Hungry for adventure!" He threw one of his hooves in the air to emphasize the crave for adventure.

Sanji blankly stared at them for a moment before shrugging. "Suit yourself." He then walked away from them, causing Luffy to let out an obnoxious groan. 

"Hey, hey, you guys," Usopp lowered his voice and looked back and forth between Luffy and Chopper, "I have a good idea. It's enjoyable."

Chopper and Luffy both looked at him, curiosity taking over their faces. "What is it?" Chopper asked excitedly.

"Shh, shh...well, if you haven't noticed," Usopp pointed behind him, "there's a sleeping swordsman right in the middle of the deck."

"Well yeah, he does that all the time," Luffy commented. "It's Zoro, what else would he do?"

"You're not picking up what I'm putting down, pal." Usopp draped an arm over Luffy's shoulders. " _Because_ he's passed out in the middle of the deck, we can totally mess with him." He wiggled his eyebrows. "I've got just the tricks up my sleeve."

"YEAH! LET'S DO I-" Luffy jumped up from his slouched position, but Usopp was quick to do the same and cover Luffy's mouth. "Shut up, shut up, _shut up_!" He whisper-yelled. "The point is _not_ to wake him up!"

"Sorry," Luffy's muffled apology came from behind Usopp's hand. 

Chopper hopped down from where he hung onto the railing. "What're we gonna start with?" He looked up at Usopp.

Usopp grinned and pulled out a marker from his infamous bag of tricks, which always sat right at his side. "First, we can make him a real sleeping beauty."

The three giggled to themselves and then began approaching the snoring Zoro. Once they made it all the way to him, their faces were twisted, struggling to hold back laughs already. Usopp held up a finger, making sure they all stayed silent. Then, slowly and carefully, he began unscrewing the cap to the marker. Right as he was poised to draw on Zoro's face, the green-haired man raised a brow, his eyes still closed.

"Touch me and I'll kill you," he warned.

"WAH!" The trio jumped back in surprise. "How did you even know we were right there?" Luffy questioned. "That's not fair!" He stomped his foot on the floor. Usopp and Chopper did the same.

"You idiots think you're quiet, but you're really not," Zoro said, sitting up and yawning.

"We made sure to be extra quiet! You must have crazy powers!" Chopper squealed with excitement as he imagined the already powerful Zoro with more powers. "That's so cool, Zoro!"

"Yeah, I have the power to sense when my captain, a sniper, and a doctor are about to annoy the living hell out of me. Crazy." He then stood up and stretched, letting out a content sigh. "Oi, Nami, have we gotten any sort of heading yet?" He called out to the navigator.

"Nope!" She responded.

"Great," Zoro rubbed his head a few times. "That means we've still got to deal with you three and your boredom."

"This is unfortunate." Usopp put his hand under his chin, looking deep in thought. "Now that we can't mess with Zoro, there's really nothing more we can do."

"Such a tragedy." Zoro rolled his eyes.

April walked over to the small group. "I've got something you guys could do." She gave a small smile. "Impersonate each person on this ship. Whoever wins gets to draw on Zoro's face!"

Zoro whipped his head towards her. "Eh?!"

"SWEET!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper yelled.

"Have fun, boys." She twirled the end of her brown ponytail and shot a devilish grin to Zoro. "Especially you." She waved before turning around and getting herself settled again by Robin and Nami.

Zoro gritted his teeth and muttered a string of profanities.

"This is gonna be so fun, since I'm gonna win!" Luffy clapped his hands together. "We need some reliable judges...NAMI! APRIL! ROBIN! YOU'RE OUR JUDGES!" Luffy called out to the three women. Then, he pulled Usopp and Chopper over to the girls. "You gotta tell us who has the best impressions."

"Okay?" Nami raised a brow. "By the way, why is Zoro trying to sneak away as if he's trying to escape something?"

Zoro's pace quickened as soon as the sentence left Nami's mouth. Luffy spun around and saw Zoro's attempt to escape. "Oi, Zoro! Where ya goin'?" He stretched his arm all the way to the swordsman, getting a solid grasp on the man's bicep. "You gotta stay so the winner can draw on you!" Then, Luffy pulled his arm back, sending Zoro flying across the deck over to them.

"Damn you, Nami, I was trying to avoid this," Zoro muttered. Nami stuck out her tongue in response.

"Okay, okay, me first! Who should I impersonate?" Luffy asked.

"The dartboard." Zoro answered in a bored tone.

"Okay, let me get in the Sanji zone real quick..." Luffy turned away from the group.

A few moments later, Luffy turned around. He had half of his jet black hair covering the left side of his face. He squinted his visible eye and pretended to hold a cigarette to his lips. "What kind of shitty bastard do you think you are, being shitty to these ladies, you shitty bastard?" He then pretended to blow out smoke. Then, he pointed at Zoro. "You wanna fight? You shitty, lazy, shitty swordsman, I'll kick your shitty ass!"

Usopp and Chopper collapsed onto the floor in a fit of laughter. Robin covered her mouth to stifle her laughs, while April, Zoro, and Nami were all laughing as well.

"Oh, Mother Ocean," Luffy spun around in a circle before kneeling in front of the girls. "My eyes have been so blessed with such...such, um...non-shitty things! I love women, lalala, I love women! Ladies! Everything else is shitty!" He stood up and spun around again, but in mid-spin, he was face-to-face with Sanji himself.

"Having fun?" Sanji asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, it's a proper shitty fun time," Luffy responded, still in character.

Before anything else could be said, Nami jumped up from her chair. "We have a heading! FRANKY!"

"A heading? AW YEAH!" Luffy adjusted his hair and ran over to put his face close to the Log Pose. "Whoa, it's going crazy!"

"Sure is," Nami agreed.

The Straw Hat shipwright, Franky hustled over, combing his impressive electric blue swoop of hair once he made it to the group. "I'm guessing we have our heading?" He questioned. Nami nodded.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need you to steer this ship to the starboard side."

Franky saluted and then ran to the wheel. In no time, the Straw Hats found themselves docking at the south side of a fairly small island. Before the crew could begin exploring, Nami gathered them all up to discuss plans.

"Okay. Our main goal is to get things important, like food, because we've got to restock. Other than that, you can explore, but don't be reckless and give yourselves away to everyone." The navigator eyed Luffy. Then, she clapped her hands together. "Oh, and whatever you buy is coming out of your own pockets!"

A collective groan arose from the crew.

"Not my fault you're all broke," Nami smiled innocently.

"But it is," Zoro muttered under his breath. Immediately, Nami's head snapped in his direction. 

"What was that, Zoro? I can't hear you over the sound of how much debt you're in as of right now!"

"Why, you...!"

"Now we've gotta split up into groups," Brook, the lively dead man interjected. "I'll take watch of the ship!"

"As will I," Robin spoke up.

"I'll be primarily in charge of getting food," Sanji said and put his hands in his pockets. "Who wants to join me?"

"I will! I might need to get some supplies for medicine anyway." Chopper chirped.

"I'll join too, 'cause I might wanna see if they've got any supplies that are appealing to a shipwright's eye, ya know?" Franky chimed in.

"Okay, so then would it be fine for the last group to just be me, April, Zoro, Usopp, and Luffy?" Nami asked.

"I have an objection to that," Sanji spoke up. "Kick the marimo out of your group."

"And leave him to wander the whole island without any clue of where anything is? I don't think that's a bright idea," Usopp responded.

"Cook's just jealous." Zoro grinned. "I'm in a group with what he wants, that's all."

"Damn you, shitty marimo!" Sanji hollered.

"Instead of arguing, how about you all get going and get everything you need before it gets dark? Time's ticking," Robin stepped in before another infamous Zoro-vs-Sanji fight could happen.

"I agree with Robin. Cut the crap and let's head out!" Nami raised a fist in the air.

"Yosh!" Luffy did the same. "LET'S GO!"

As the groups separated, a pair of green eyes glinted in the trees above, watching the pirates carefully. From below, April began to feel uneasy. She turned her head back to look and see if anything was around, but there was nothing, as far as she knew.

A quiet laugh accompanied the green eyes. "This'll be fun, Straw Hat Pirates. Just you wait."


	2. The Devil!? Straw Hats, Let's Play A Game!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the crew has landed on the island, it's time for a little exploration! Luffy's group naturally finds themselves in an all-you-can-eat buffet before they end up wandering into a barren territory. While they're wandering, they're challenged to a game! The challenger? The Devil...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two!  
> Of course, no One Piece adventure is complete without Luffy paying a visit to a local restaurant and Nami scolding him for it.   
> Hope you all enjoy this chapter! The game's about to begin with a bang..literally. Actually, maybe figuratively. Who knows?

"Well, this place certainly is busy for being as small as it is," Usopp commented as he, Luffy, Zoro, April, and Nami moved through the surprisingly large crowds of this island. They had just found the main town of the island shortly after they separated from the other groups, and Luffy was already beginning to complain about food. 

"We should really find a restaurant," Luffy said as he carefully scanned each building they passed to see if it contained food. "I'm starving." He held his stomach. 

"That's your own fault," April flicked him in the back of the head. "I heard Sanji offer you something to eat earlier, but you didn't really jump at that opportunity."

"Well, Chopper answered for all of us." Luffy pouted. 

"Idiot." Nami shook her head and sighed. "If you think you're getting food, then you're wrong. We're not gonna waste money for no reason, got it?"

"Nami!" Luffy groaned. "We're not wasting it; it's for a good cause! My stomach's happiness is the good cause!"

"Yeah, no. Listen, we're just here to explore and stuff since Sanji's group is basically handling what's vital. Now let's j-LUFFY?!" Nami's eyes widened as the rubber boy disappeared right from the spot he was standing in prior. In addition to that, Zoro and Usopp had disappeared as well. 

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Nami looked back and forth vigorously. "WHERE THE HELL COULD THEY HAVE DISAPPEARED TO?! THOSE IDIOTS!"

April pointed to a building not too far away from them. In big red letters, the sign hanging from it said, "ALL YOU CAN EAT! COME ONE, COME ALL."

"Nami, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that that's where those three went," April said, shrugging. "Like I said, it's a completely wild guess. Don't come after me if it's wrong," she added sarcastically and laughed to herself. Then, she clapped a hand on the visibly stressed navigator's shoulder. "Let's go, Nami-o." 

The two girls briskly walked into the restaurant and scanned the inside of it carefully. Sure enough, at the bar in the back, Zoro, Luffy, and Usopp were hunched over, all chowing down. Food flew in every direction at the hands of Luffy, while mug after mug was slammed down, empty, at the hands of Zoro. Usopp, however, was taking his sweet time with the meal he had ordered. Nami stormed up behind them and placed her hands on her hips. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She questioned, looming over the three guys. 

Zoro turned his head to look at her. "Living." He took a swig of what appeared to be the fifth drink he had so quickly acquired. "Having fun." Then, he shrugged. "The usual."

"You guys are absolute idiots," she growled. "We were just supposed to explore!"

"Yeah," Luffy spoke up as he gulped down a heap of food, "we were exploring the tastes of this island." He shoved another chunk of meat into his mouth. 

April let out a defeated sigh from behind Nami. "It's no use. They're just too stupid. Maybe we should just leave them and see where their stupidity gets them, yeah?" 

Nami turned to her sensible companion. "As wonderful as that sounds, we can't leave these guys alone. They're bound to get caught up in some sort of ridiculous mess."

"Hey, we can handle ourselves, thank you very much." Usopp declared, sitting up straight in his seat. Then, he eyed Luffy and Zoro who were drowning themselves in food and booze. "Er, well, at least I can handle myself."

"Right, very funny." Nami responded and then grabbed the back of Luffy and Zoro's shirts. "Let's head out, fellas." She began dragging the two beasts away, leaving April and Usopp to exchange the "Knew That Was Coming" glance. 

April fished in her pockets for any sort of currency that would pay for whatever the three stooges ordered. When her fingers finally wrapped around what was needed, she flipped four coins onto the surface of the bar, then exited the restaurant with Usopp, following Nami's lead. 

"Nami! We weren't done!" Luffy stomped his foot on the ground and threw his hands up and proceeded to wave them wildly. "I'm still hungry!"

Nami stood in front of her complaining captain with her eyes closed and arms folded over her chest. "That's not my problem."

"You're evil, you just _want_ to watch me die from starvation!" Luffy dropped his arms by his side and pouted. "Nami, you gotta be nicer."

"She's nice enough for having to deal with you lot constantly." April said as she and Usopp approached the other three. "Anyway, I think we should just continue on with our exploration without any side adventures. Sound good?"

"Sounds fantastic," Nami smiled contently and then the group was on their merry way once again. 

As the group walked around longer, they noticed that the crowds grew more and more scarce. By now, two or three people would pass them every few minutes. The buildings around them were all rundown, and there was an increase in weapons scattered all over the ground. An uneasy feeling seemed to settle in the air. 

Usopp gulped as his eyes took in more of the sights. Then, he made sure to keep close to Zoro, for he was the one in front of the frightened long-nosed man. The group continued on in a curious silence; the only noise that was produced was their footsteps meeting the chipped cobblestone path. 

"Guys...did we really have to end up in the creepiest part of this island? Can't we just take a detour now?" Usopp asked and gulped once more. 

"No, this is where the real adventure lies," Zoro responded as he looked around. 

Usopp frowned at the back of Zoro. "Of course you'd say that. I hate to break it to you, Zoro, but not all of us like fighting for fun."

Suddenly, Zoro stopped abruptly, causing Usopp to practically slam right into the swordsman's back, his nose making contact first. 

"Jeez!" Usopp then stumbled backwards, holding his nose. "Warn me when you wanna stop that quickly next time, jerk!"

"Something's not right..." Zoro ignored Usopp's complaints and narrowed his eyes, looking at his surroundings with a more intense purpose. 

"Wh-what do you mean?" Usopp asked. His legs started to tremble and he rapidly looked around. "Is there someone hiding in the shadows waiting to kill us?! Oh, oh no, _no_!" 

Luffy placed a hand on his infamous straw hat and lifted his head up to look at the tops of buildings. "It feels like someone's watching us." He said. 

"This is not good, _not good_. Abort, abort, abort! Let's just head right out while we still can!" Usopp made a large gesture to the direction in which the group came from. 

Nami was quick to cling onto Usopp, and then the two of them began embracing for the worst. 

"I can't die today, I still have money to collect!" Nami cried. 

"I can feel my soul leaving my body, goodbye, friends," Usopp mumbled and dropped his head back. 

Before anything else could be said, Zoro lifted his hand at lightning speed and snatched something right out of the air. Whatever this object was, it was certainly going to strike him in the head if he hadn't reacted. Nami and Usopp shrieked in terror and April jumped with surprise, while Luffy didn't move a muscle. 

"We're under fire! We're doomed!" Usopp yelled. 

"Zoro, what is that...?" April asked. 

The green-haired swordsman lowered his hand. "It's an arrow." He answered coolly. 

"An _arrow_?!" Usopp questioned. 

"That was aimed right at your head! How the hell did you even know how to time that?! How did you even know an arrow was coming?!" Nami asked. 

Zoro shrugged. "I heard it coming, so naturally, I planned to stop it."

"I heard it coming too," Luffy added, his attention still focused on the tops of the disheveled buildings. 

"Whatever shot this at us isn't around anymore, though. If they were, we'd be getting arrows rained on us." Zoro said and looked down at his hand. He scrutinized the arrow. 

"It's clear to tell that this was handmade." He opened his hand and raised a brow. "Huh." He huffed, and then held up the arrow. "There's a note attached to it." 

"Well, let's read it then." April said. 

"No! What if it's like, a bomb?" Usopp yelped. 

"That's extremely unlikely, Usopp." Zoro tore the piece of paper off of the arrow and dropped the weapon to the ground. "This seems like the style of a bounty hunter. They usually don't enjoy killing their targets right when they see them. They like to draw out the experience. Well, at least that's what I know based off of my experiences." He handed the piece of paper to April. "You read it."

"Well, okay-"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on, you mean to tell us that there's a _bounty hunter_ after our heads right now?!" Nami asked.

"I'm not saying that that's exactly what we're dealing with, I just said that this basically seems like something a bounty hunter would do. Maybe if you'd allow April to read the note then we could put two and two together and see if it adds up to be a bounty hunter," Zoro answered and then nodded at April. 

April unfolded the piece of paper: 

_"My turf, my game, my rules, Straw Hats._

_Love,  
The Devil"_

"THE DEVIL?!" Usopp and Nami shrieked once again. 

"Well someone's certainly got a lot of misplaced faith in themselves if they're referring to themselves as 'The Devil'." Zoro chuckled with a cocky grin. 

"So we get to fight the Devil?" Luffy asked quietly. "That's...SO COOL!" He yelled and jumped up with excitement. 

"Do we have any idea on when this so-called 'game' is going to start?" April asked. "Should we inform the others just in case they weren't found by whoever this is yet?"

"To answer question one: no! To answer question two: NO, LET'S JUST GATHER EVERYONE AND GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE AS FAST AS WE CAN!" Usopp yelled. 

"Usopp!" Luffy turned towards his panicked sniper and navigator. "Running away from the Devil when you've got the opportunity to fight them is no fun! Besides, this game is right up my alley, so as captain, I command you all to stay and participate in this game!" 

"We're doomed..." Usopp and Nami muttered as they hugged each other tightly. 

"So, did this note reveal if this is a bounty hunter after us or not?" April asked Zoro. 

"This is pretty much a bounty hunter." Zoro answered as a smirk took over his face. "This'll be pretty fun; I think I'll enjoy this a lot."

"You and Luffy are insane!" Usopp cried. 

"I know." Zoro and Luffy replied. 

"Anyway," April began, "let's just head back into the more crowded parts of this island and just blend in a little to save some time for planning out what to do."

"YOSH! BRING IT ON, DEVIL!" Luffy yelled. 

The group then began to walk in the direction that they came from. As they were walking away, a figure appeared on the roof of one of the worn-down buildings. Her green eyes flashed with challenge, and a sinister smile took up her face. Then, a small fit of laughter shook her body. 

"Game on, Straw Hats."

XXXXXXX

"Sanji!" Chopper groaned as the cook once again paraded after a group of girls. 

"Bro, you need to work on some kind of medicine that would make him stop going after every single gal he sees," Franky suggested with a small chuckle. 

Chopper let out a sigh. "Trust me, I've tried. Now let's just grab him before he gets himself into trouble-AH! SANJI! WHERE DID YOU GO?!" Chopper swiveled his head back and forth to see if he could catch a glimpse of the love-struck cook. "FRANKY!" Chopper looked up at the cyborg with panic. "WE LOST SANJI!"

"Nah, bro, calm down, I still see him." 

Chopper let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

Before Franky and Chopper could walk in Sanji's direction, the cook was already standing right with them again. Blood dripped out of his nose. 

"So are we in need of anything else?" He asked casually as he wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

"DON'T JUST COME BACK HERE ACTING LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED!" Franky and Chopper yelled. 

Sanji held up his hands in defense. "Sorry, sorry. Can't stop a man's heart from running wild." 

Chopper rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Now let's cont-SANJI!" The doctor yelled ins distress as the cook sped off once again to two girls. 

"Hey, hey, I think that's April and Nami that he went after!" Franky said. "There's no mistaking that orange hair and that red bandanna!" He pointed a finger at the group Sanji had approached. The duo then made their way over to Nami and April's group. When they arrived, Sanji was already arguing with Zoro, while Nami was yelling at them to cease the chaos. 

"Long time no see, you guys," Franky greeted with a flashy grin. 

"FRANKY! CHOPPER! WE GOTTA GET OFF THIS ISLAND! WE'RE GONNA GET KILLED!" Usopp ran over to the two and wildly waved his arms. 

"Wait, what?" Chopper asked, his eyes widening. 

"There's a bounty hunter after us! They almost killed Zoro with an arrow!" 

"WHAT?!" Chopper squeaked. 

Sanji pulled himself away from his argument with Zoro and tipped his head. "Bounty hunter?"

"They're the Devil! They wrote us a note saying that we're gonna play a game or something! This is gonna be awesome!" Luffy grinned. 

Sanji tipped his head to the other side. "The Devil?"

Chopper changed from his Walking Point to his regular form and clung onto Franky's leg. "THE DEVIL?!" 

Franky adjusted his sunglasses and then ran a hand through his swoop of electric blue hair. "The Devil...hm. Sounds pretty sick, man."

Sanji stroked his chin and narrowed his eyes. Then, he looked at Zoro, then straight ahead, deep in thought. "Usopp, you said this bounty hunter almost killed Zoro?" The chef asked. 

Usopp looked at Sanji with a slightly confused expression on his face. "Well, yeah. They shot an arrow at him and-"

"Damn, it's a shame that they're not good at their job then," Sanji dropped his hand back to his side and exhaled a stream of smoke. "That's unfortunate."

Zoro whipped his head in Sanji's direction and shot the cook a nasty glare. "Oi, cook, what the hell are you getting at?" Zoro growled. 

Sanji smirked. "You know exactly what I'm getting at, Marimo."

"You're dea-" 

Before Zoro could initiate another fight with Sanji, Nami hit them both upside the head. 

"We don't have time for your pointless bickering right now. We need to figure out what we're going to do with this bounty hunter after us. More importantly, we have to figure out a way to warn Robin and Brook."

"I'm sure they'll be fine. They're hidden on the outskirts of the island with Sunny. I doubt that the bounty hunter will go look way out there. Even if they do, it's not like Robin and Brook can't handle themselves." April said. 

"Right," Franky nodded in agreement. "I think we just need to figure out what the hell we're going to do if said bounty hunter ends up finding any of us right now."

As if on cue, an explosion emerged, sending the whole crowd of civilians screaming and scattering in all different directions. However, the group of Straw Hats did not move, despite Nami, Usopp, and Chopper's screams of fright. 

"WE GOTTA GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE, YOU GUYS!" Usopp yelled. 

The sniper's voice was drowned out in the sea of screams that exited peoples' mouths as they ran by the group. Smoke began filling the air, which resulted in making it harder for anyone to see. 

"EVERYONE, DON'T MOVE. JUST STAY PUT SO WE DON'T END UP LOSING EACH OTHER!" Luffy commanded. 

"WE'RE DEAD. WE'RE SO DEAD." Nami gripped onto Sanji's arm tightly. 

Finally, the chaos seemed to die down. No civilians were left. It was just the sound of crumbling rocks and the sight and smell of smoke that covered everything else. 

"What the hell was that all about...?" April asked after a fit of coughs. 

"My guess is that it's the bounty hunter officially initiating this whole 'game'," Zoro responded. 

The smoke cleared even more, and as it did, the group could make out a figure making its way towards them. 

"Um...guys...?" Usopp pointed a shaky finger in the direction of the silhouette. 

"We're gonna die," Chopper sniffled and wiped his nose, clinging onto Franky's leg even tighter. 

Zoro instinctively brought his hand to hover over his swords, ready to battle, while Luffy stood facing this mystery person with his arms crossed. 

Finally, the smoke cleared enough for the group of Straw Hats to see a pair of green eyes shining at them. 

"Let's go over the rules of this game, shall we?"


	3. Black Cat Appears! Let the Games Begin!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The "Devil" finally makes her grand introduction to the Straw Hats, and the game finally starts!  
> However, Robin and Brook are still left in the dark about the situation unfolding. Will this bounty hunter reach them first, or will their companions be able to pass the word in time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, chapter three! You're going to see some absolutely classic Luffy moments including boogers, and the infamous "Can you poop?" line. In addition to that, you'll be able to bathe in the glory of Sanji being an absolute swooning dweeb. Other than that, this chapter is just more of an adventure! Hope you enjoy it!

"Let's go over the rules of this game, shall we?"

The slim figure finally positioned herself in front of the group of the Straw Hats. The smoke had cleared completely now, so her full appearance was on display.

Tall back boots climbed up her legs until they reached just below her knees. Then, a short pair of ripped, black shorts was to add onto that. Next, the tanned skin of her stomach faced the daylight; several scars decorated her exposed skin, and the rest of her was covered by a short black tank top. To top off the whole look, a black headband sat on the top of her golden hair.

The woman standing before the group shot them a menacing smile, her green eyes glinting with challenge.

"For a bounty hunter, you'd expect her to have at least one weapon on her," Zoro mumbled to himself. 

Sanji's jaw dropped at a rapid speed. He had to shake his head a few times to make sure he was actually awake. As he stared at her in complete awe, a small string of drool began to trickle out of his mouth. 

"Who are you and what have you done to my heart? It's beating so thunderously for you~!" He was ready to approach her in a fit of swoons, but Nami was quick to grab him to keep him in his place.

"Don't, Sanji- _kun_. You could get hurt," she whispered.

The blonde laughed and shook her head. "Oh, pardon me. It's quite rude of me to not introduce myself properly to my opponents. I'm-"

"THE DEVIL!" Luffy interrupted. "You're the Devil! Let's fight! Right now!"

"Luffy!" Usopp whisper-yelled, hitting his captain on the back of the head.

"If you're the Devil then please take me to Hell as fast as possible..." Sanji drooled at a more rapid pace now. The sentence earned a hit from Nami.

The woman raised a brow in amusement.

"For a crew with a total bounty as high as yours, I would expect there to be a bit more... _maturity_." She seemed to hiss the last word. Then, she shook her head once again. "Oh, well, it makes the game easier for me. I'm Black Cat."

Luffy tipped his head. "I thought you were the Devil?"

"I am."

"But you just said you're a cat?"

"I am."

"You can't be both! Make up your damn mind!" Luffy pointed a finger at her. "It's not fair if you get to be both a cat and the Devil!"

Black Cat rolled her eyes. "You're thinking too hard about this, honey." Then, she eyed each of the people in the group carefully, starting with Chopper, who was still clinging onto Franky's leg for dear life.

"Tony Tony Chopper. Definitely as small as I expected."

"Don't kill me...!" The reindeer squeaked.

Black Cat then brought her green gaze up to examine Franky. "The cyborg. Your weakness is your back. You better watch it."

"How did you...?" Franky trailed off, amazed that someone else other than his crew mates knew of his weakness.

"People like me have to know everything if they wanna have fun with their prey." She shrugged and glanced at Usopp. "Sniper King."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I-I am _not_ the Sniper King...I'm...I'm just his bodyguard!" Usopp placed his hands on his hips, but couldn't stop himself from excessively trembling.

"Mmmhm, Compulsive liar. The nose gives away your identity as Sniper King."

"WHAT?!" Luffy turned to look at Usopp. "YOU'RE THE SNIPER KING?!" His eyes were wide. 

Usopp waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no, she's got it all wrong, I'm the Sniper King's bodyguard, that's all!" The sniper laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, unsure if Luffy was actually going to buy the small fib he had just told. 

"Oh, okay. Man, this Devil-cat sure is stupid, then," Luffy concluded. Usopp dropped his jaw in silence, blown away that Luffy was still shallow enough to buy it. Then again, it was Luffy; he'd believe anything that came out of Usopp's mouth. 

"Now..." Black Cat moved on and looked at Sanji, who was about ready to shoot himself up into the sky with a nosebleed. "...You're the Black Leg." She walked closer to him and smirked. Nami, who was still holding onto his arm, instinctively began to pull the cook further away, but Black Cat reached out and grabbed hold of the man's tie.

Luffy, Zoro, Franky, and April watched her carefully, each of them ready to attack if this woman tried to pull anything on their chef.

"Black Leg Sanji accompanied by his arm accessory, Burglar Cat Nami." She twisted the tie in her grasp and shot Nami a sweet-yet-sinister look.

Black Cat dropped Sanji's tie and blew him a kiss before moving onto the next crew mate.

She eyed April up and down, not saying anything for a few moments. As April opened her mouth to say something, Black Cat was quick to speak.

"You must be the newbie of this crew," she smirked. 

"You've got that right," April responded. 

The bounty hunter placed a hand on her hip and tapped her toe on the cobblestone ground several times before pointing a finger at April. "You haven't really made a name for yourself yet, apparently. I've seen no poster of you floating around anywhere, so that means the world is left in the dark about you and whatever power you possess, but..." she trailed off and let a bigger smirk take over her pale face. 

"....that doesn't mean I don't know all that stuff."

April's blue eyes widened, completely baffled that this sinister woman standing before her apparently knew of her abilities.

"But of course, you not having an official bounty yet essentially means that you're of no use to me." 

She stepped closer to April. 

"However, it might be fun to get rid of you before a bounty is even placed on your head. After all, you are now officially a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, so of course the World Government is going to place some cash on your head, regardless. It'll just give me some good practice to get rid of you now."

She stepped back from April and moved on to examine the next member of the crew. 

Black Cat eyed the three swords that sat at Zoro's side and noticed his hand that was hovering over them instinctively. She shook her head with a feigned expression of disappointment. "You're ready to kill me already? There's no fun in ending this game so early, Pirate Hunter Zoro." She clicked her tongue with pity a few times. 

Finally, she approached Luffy. He blinked at her a few times, and as he did, he shoved his pinkie finger right up his nose. Black Cat cringed slightly at the actions of Luffy before clearing her throat in an awkward manner. 

"Captain Straw Hat Luffy, you're just _charming_."

Luffy continued his blank stare, but removed his finger from his nose, wiping whatever graced his finger right on Zoro's shirt. Zoro's mouth dropped in disgust as he swatted Luffy's hand away with such a force that it caused his captain to lurch forward. Luffy then gave his swordsman a mean side-eye as he rubbed the hand that was just hit. Black Cat stared in astonishment at the situation that had just unfolded before her. Was this really the three hundred million man everyone was in such a craze over? 

"Anyway," she began, "I've been waiting for you to show up in my life, Straw Hat."

Her tone seemed to hint that she somewhat regretted saying such a thing after witnessing what she did. 

"That's kinda weird. Why would you be waiting for me to show up into your life?" He stuck a finger up his nose again, and then tipped his head. "Oh, by the way, if you're a Devil and a cat at the same time, can you still poo-"

_WHAM!_

Zoro's fist, Nami's fist, Usopp's fist, and Sanji's foot all made contact with Luffy's face.

Black Cat huffed with amusement. "Lively bunch." She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Anyway, the rules: there are no rules. If I catch you, you're most likely going to be dead. Someone better pass these rules on to Nico Robin and Humming Brook before I get to them, hmm?"

"Oh, shit!" Franky yelled in realization.

"I'll give you kids a fifteen second head start...now."

"Wait, wha-" 

"SCATTER!" Nami yelled, cutting the clueless captain off. 

The Straw Hats did just that. Chopper and Franky headed out in the direction of the Sunny, Usopp followed Zoro elsewhere, Nami pulled the swooning chef into another direction, and April and Luffy went their own separate ways. Luffy laughed excitedly the whole time he was running away. 

Fangs replaced Black Cat's normal teeth, while claws extended from her finger nails. A long black tail grew from the back of her, and her pupils grew more narrow.

"The hunt begins now, Straw Hats."

XXXXXX

"It sure is peaceful just having to listen to the birds, isn't it, Robin-san?" Brook asked as he sat on the bench connected to the mast.

"It is," Robin agreed. "This kind of silence is rare when you're part of this crew." She laughed softly.

"That's true," Brook responded. 

The soft sea breeze rustled the leaves of the island, creating a soothing sound for Robin and the skeleton musician to sit in silence to. All was calm until the rumble of an explosion followed by screams filled the air. 

Brook stood up from his spot quickly, holding onto his petite top hat. 

"Oh, my, that sure did frighten me!" He exclaimed. 

A concerned look crossed Robin's face before she walked over to the railing. "That didn't sound good." She said. 

"Well, of course not. It was an explosion followed by terrified screams." Brook responded, joining Robin at the railing. He then looked down at her. "Do you think Luffy- _san_ and the others were the ones to provoke that?" 

Robin shook her head. "They wouldn't provoke anything that would involve the possible harm of the islanders."

More screams filled the air, but this time, these screams were easily identifiable. 

"Chopper- _san_! Franky- _san_!" Brook called out. 

"HELP US! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Chopper's high-pitched screech filled the woods that the Sunny was surrounded by. Robin and Brook exchanged glances, clearly confused with all that was happening. 

The bushes on the land below rustled wildly, and in seconds, they parted as Walking Point Chopper and Franky dove through in a panic. They both landed on their faces and skidded to a halt, causing dirt and dust to swirl up around them. 

"Oh, dear," was all Brook managed to say. 

As the dust settled, it was easy to see how much the two pirates' chests were heaving. Panting, Chopper, who was back to his tiny self, sat up abruptly. As soon as he saw Robin and Brook staring down at them from the deck with concern, he jumped up and began frantically waving his hooves around. 

"There's a devil-cat-lady-bounty hunter-person after us now and she's making us play a game and it's just a game of life or death and I'm scared!" The little reindeer collapsed backwards and began panting once again. "She's scary!" He added, breathless. 

"There's a bounty hunter on this island that's targeting us now?" Robin asked. Then, she propped her elbow on the deck railing and rested her chin in the palm of her hand, causing her to look quite thoughtful. The sea breeze gently blew her hair as she spent a few moments of silence to collect what she was planning to say. 

"Hm," she hummed to herself and looked up at the sky. Then, she trailed her blue eyes back to Chopper and Franky, who were still sprawled out on the ground. "That's unfortunate."

Franky sat up this time, raising his sunglasses. " _'That's unfortunate'_? Of course it's unfortunate! Ya took all that time in your own silence just to say two words?"

Chopper sat up once again. "Robin! You're not concerned enough about this situation! We're going against the Devil!"

Robin cocked her head slightly to one side. "I thought you said she was also a cat?"

Chopper furrowed his brows. "Well, she is, but she's not...but she is."

"That sure is confusing, Chopper- _san_ ," Brook commented. Scratching his skull, he turned to Robin. "Anyway, I think we can handle whatever this mystical devil-cat being is, don't you?"

Robin nodded in agreement. "I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle."

Franky stood up and brushed himself off. Then, he placed his hands on his hips and stared up at Robin and Brook. "Okay, so, you've been warned. I don't know what you two plan on doing now, but I think Chopper and I are just gonna keep running. It'll probably be for the better if we're all in smaller groups, anyway. That way, she might just get tired after chasing so many groups around the island, and she'll have no choice but to lay off!" 

"Well, that's reasonable," Brook said. 

"I think Brook and I will just keep on watching the ship. This bounty hunter might be the kind that would want to wreak havoc on our precious Sunny, so we'll make sure that doesn't happen," Robin said. 

Franky gave them two thumbs up and flashed a bright grin. "Sweet! That'll be _super_ helpful! We'll be counting on you!" Then, the shipwright turned to Chopper. "Bro, you ready to keep on keepin' on?"

Chopper looked up at Franky with his tongue hanging out. His eyes were half-closed, and his breaths seemed to come out as deep sighs every time he exhaled. The pathetic image of the Straw Hat doctor which was displayed before Franky caused him to chuckle to himself before scooping up the reindeer in his large arms. 

"Don't get comfortable, you won't be here for long. I'm just gonna hold onto you until we're back outta the woods. You better be ready to hit the ground runnin' once we reach town again, bro," Franky declared. He looked back up at Robin and Brook, who both waved at him. Franky nodded as an acknowledgement to their waves before running off back into the woods. 

As Robin and Brook watched their two friends go, another explosion came about closer to where they were. 

"My, my." Brook drummed his bone fingers on the railing. "This game sure is quite a circus. I really do hope everyone will be okay through the duration of this."

XXXXXX

"I think for once I might be thankful that I'm stuck in a group with you because your sense of direction might get us so lost that she won't be able to find us ever," Usopp said as he leaned against the wall of a nearby building. 

Ignoring the comment, Zoro grabbed Usopp by the arm and roughly pulled him inside the building the long-nosed fellow was just leaning against. 

"Don't leave yourself out in the open like that," Zoro scolded. 

"Well, _gee_ , how was I supposed to know that? I don't deal with bounty hunters on the daily, thank you very much." Usopp crossed his arms and tilted his chin up, letting out a sassy, "Hmph!".

"It's called common sense, Sass Master," Zoro retorted. "You should know this after having to deal with all the enemies that we've dealt with in the past."

"Okay, well, anyway, are we just going to hide in here until this whole thing blows over?" Usopp asked. 

"This isn't going to blow over until we're all dead," Zoro answered, "but essentially, yes. As long as we don't completely give away our-"

The wall next to the two men crumbled to pieces. Usopp screamed and dove for cover behind Zoro, who immediately pulled out one of his precious swords, Sandai Kitetsu. 

"... _location_." Zoro was able to finish his prior sentence as the commotion of the crumbling wall died down. Standing where the wall once was, the dreaded bounty hunter pointed a finger at Usopp and Zoro, a large grin displayed on her face. However, Zoro noticed that her hands seemed completely different than how they were when the group first met Black Cat, as well as that grin of hers. Something was off.

Both of her arms were completely black, and at the end of each finger, a sharp claw protruded. In addition to that, her green eyes seemed rounder and brighter, with dark slits right in the middle. For her grin, Zoro noticed that she had legitimate fangs. Usopp peered his head from around Zoro's back and took in her appearance. When he did, his mouth hung slightly agape, and then he gasped as if he had an epiphany. 

"Her name makes sense now!" He whisper-yelled. 

"Well, would you look at that, it's so early into this game, and I already have my prey cornered." She hummed with delight and lowered her arm. 

"Mind you, we're human beings, not prey," Usopp said. Black Cat brought her terrifying new gaze upon Usopp. As a result, he shrunk his head back behind Zoro's body. 

"Did those claws of yours do that?" Zoro nodded to the debris on the ground. 

"You're correct," Black Cat responded and lifted her arm back up. She flipped her hand as she observed the quality of her claws. "These babies pack in quite a mean scratch."

She looked up from her claws, directly at Zoro. His grip tightened on his sword as his senses told him that she was about to make a move. 

His senses were right. 

Black Cat lunged at him with such a speed that it threw the swordsman off for only a split second. He could see that she was winding her arm back, poising to strike down upon him. In one swift movement, Zoro's blade came up to meet the claws of Black Cat. His eyes widened slightly with surprise; he didn't expect her claws to feel this strong, resisting his block. 

Before he could even think about anything else, he quickly used his free hand to pull out his second sword, Sushui, to block the blow from Black Cat's other hand. Now he stood with his feet firmly planted as he fought to make sure that her claws came nowhere near his face or Usopp's. 

While Zoro was stalling Black Cat from making anymore attacks, Usopp took the opportunity to quickly construct a quick escape plan. He opened his bag and plunged his hand inside, frantically trying to grasp what he was looking for...

When his fingers brushed over the familiar ammo, a small grin appeared on the sniper's face. He then quickly pulled out his small slingshot, loaded the small ball of ammo, and fired. 

"SUPER SMOKE STAR!" 

A burst of smoke filled the room, giving Usopp the opportunity to grab Zoro and run while the smoke was still thick. As the two continued to run from the decisive battle, Usopp threw his arms up in the air and gave a hearty cheer. 

"Good thinking, Usopp, you sly dog!" He complimented himself. 

"We're not free yet, so don't go overdosing on compliments to yourself," Zoro advised. 

Zoro and Usopp then rounded a corner, hoping that it would be enough to shake off the possibility of her pursuing them for at least a few minutes. However, the second they completely rounded the corner, they were only to skid to a halt. Black Cat stood right in their path; her hands--which were back to normal--were placed on her hips. 

She shook her head with pity as the two stopped abruptly. 

"You had a good thought going there, Sniper King," she began, "but that's not gonna be enough to throw me off." She pulled out a spherical object from God knows where, and held it up so the two pirates could get a look at it. It was black, like the rest of her getup, and it was, of course, in the shape of a cat's head. Before the duo could examine it further, she tossed it at them, and it landed right at their feet. 

"Wha...?" Usopp looked down at it. 

It started releasing small, slow beeps, but it grew louder and faster in little to no time at all. 

"Shit, it's gonna blow!" Zoro yelled and grabbed onto Usopp's shirt, preparing to pull his crew mate away before the explosion from this newly-discovered cat bomb erupted. 

Zoro only took one step before the explosion occurred.


End file.
